Iowa Wesleyan struggles in home loss

The Iowa Wesleyan football team just couldn’t contain Eureka running back LeAnthony Reasnover on Saturday night. The Tiger star rushed for 179 yards and six touchdowns, five of which came in the first half, as the Red Devils dropped the Tigers 49-18.

Reasnover’s first score, a 23-yard rush came with 5:03 remaining in the first quarter, but it was met with quite the response. IW returner Joseph Mosley returned the kick all the way to the house, running past, around and through the Eureka coverage team for an 83-yard score.

“Special teams scores are always big,” said Tiger head coach Michael Richtman after the game. “Joe is the leading returner in the conference and you can see they are going to start kicking away from him.”

Unfortunately for the Tigers, IW couldn’t convert on the extra point, and Eureka still led 7-6 early.

A dominant Red Devil running game and a couple of untimely Tiger turnovers led to three straight Eureka scores, all rushes inside the 10-yard line and all by Reasnover. Early in the second quarter, the scoreboard read 28-6 in favor of Eureka.

IW’s biggest offensive play came with 9:41 left in the half. Alex Payne threw a bomb to Jacob Santos’ who made a leaping catch over two defenders and took it 61-yards to the end zone to cut the lead to 28-12.

After another Reasnover score, Payne connected again, this time with Rudy Amezcua. Amezcua found the end zone on a 210-yard reception, and the Tigers trailed 35-18 after a third-straight failed PAT.

The ensuing kick off was fumbled, giving the Tigers a shot to make it a two-posession game before halftime, but the offense couldn’t produce any points. Eureka added two more rushing touchdowns in the second half and the Tigers eventually walked out with a 31-point loss.

After the game, coach Richtman talked about the struggles of stopping Reasnover and the Eureka rushing attack.

“I think the biggest thing was, he’s very elusive and a very good back,” Richtman said. “They have a good offensive line too, (and) there were times we just didn’t wrap up and make tackles.”

Payne finished the game 7-18 with 103 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Santos led the receivers with two catches for 73 yards and one touchdown.

Payne was also the team’s leading rusher with 42 yards. DeMarcus Collins, the backup quarterback who came in after an injury to Payne in the fourth quarter, was second on the team with five rushes for 36 yards.

IW fell to 1-4 overall with the loss and 1-3 in UMAC play. They’ll hit the road on Saturday, Oct. 7, for a matchup with The College of St. Scholastica at 2:30 p.m.